John 18:12-27: Consistent Inconsistency

John 18:12-27: Consistently Inconsistent

Please turn with me in your Bible to John 18. If you’re using one of the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 749. We’ve been going passage by passage through the Gospel of John, and this morning, the next passage we come to is John 18:12-27. Jesus has just been arrested and will soon be crucified. But first, here’s what we read. John 18:12-27: 12 So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. 13 First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14 It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people. 15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, 16 but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. 17 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself. 19 The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 20 Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. 21 Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.” 22 When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?” 24 Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. 25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” 26 One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27 Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed. 

As most of us know, the eyes of the world have been directed toward Pyeongchang this past month for the 2018 Winter Olympics. There just seems to be something fascinating about watching athletes who are truly the best in the world at something compete in that event. But as we see every time the Olympics come around, even the world’s most elite athletes sometimes make mistakes. I’m sure it has a lot to do with the enormous amount of pressure these athletes are under and the nervousness they feel, but there are always a few notable falls and fails that we see in the Olympic games. And personally, I feel really bad for those athletes whenever that happens. I mean, imagine spending the majority of your life training day after day to compete in a particular event and then totally blowing it when you get to the highest level of competition. That has to be so frustrating. It’s not fun to fail. 

And here in our text this morning, we see Peter failing in a pretty notable way also. Now remember, this is the same Peter who had boasted back in chapter 13 that he was willing even to lay down his life for Jesus. But Jesus knew what was going to happen. And right after Peter said that, Jesus replied to him in John 13:38, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.” Ouch. That must have stung a little bit. So we’ve known ever since chapter 13 that Peter was going to deny Jesus. And here in our main text, we see that actually happening. And as I was studying our text in John 18, I was struck by how courageous Peter could be at one moment and then how cowardly he could be just a few moments later. You may remember from last week’s message how when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Peter was ready to go down fighting. He drew his sword and started to attack one of the men who had come until Jesus told him to stop. Peter was ready to fight. But now, probably not even an hour later, Peter’s too cowardly even to identify himself as one of Jesus’ disciples. He denies it three times. I can’t get over how opposite that is from the way he was just acting in the garden. 

And if you look at Peter as a whole during the years of Jesus’ earthly ministry, you can see that he always seems to be rather inconsistent in his spiritual walk. Not only do we see that inconsistency displayed here in John 18, we also see it in Matthew 16. When Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?”, Peter replies “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” So basically, he nails it. Peter’s answer is so good that Jesus pronounces an extended blessing over him. But then, just four verses after Jesus pronounces that blessing, the text records how Peter tries to persuade Jesus to go in a direction that’s contrary to the way he needs to go. In fact, it’s so contrary that Jesus says to him in Matthew 16:23, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” That’s a pretty strong rebuke. It doesn’t get worse than Jesus calling you Satan. So in the span of four verses, Peter goes from being worthy of the one of the greatest blessings ever given to being worthy of one of the strongest rebukes ever given. That’s what I call inconsistency. And there are plenty of other examples from Peter’s life we could point to. In Matthew 14, as Jesus is walking on the water, Peter tries to join him out on the water. And he does okay at first, but then he loses faith and starts to sink. Inconsistency marked Peter’s life. We might say that Peter was consistently inconsistent. And that’s actually the main point I think we can take away from our main text this morning. Peter was consistently inconsistent.

And if we honestly examined our own lives, I bet most of us—even as Christians—wouldn’t have to look very far back to be reminded of times when we also have been rather inconsistent. That seems to be one of the frustrating realities for God’s people on this side of heaven. As hard as we might try to live for Jesus, there will still be times when we fail. So just know this morning that if you’ve ever failed in your Christian life, you’re not alone. You might think you’re alone, but you’re not. I think it would be accurate to say that all of us fall lamentably short sometimes of what we desire to be. 

Several years ago, probably almost a decade ago now, I had a job selling appliances at Sears. And in the appliance department, we were paid strictly by commission. We didn’t make any hourly wage; everything we made was by commission. And one of the unofficial rules for our department was that you don’t steal someone else’s sale. If, for whatever reason, you’re helping a customer that another salesperson had worked with first when that other salesperson isn’t there, you should ring up the sale in the other salesperson’s numbers so that they get the credit—especially if that salesperson spent longer with the customer than you did. They’re the ones who did the work, so they’re the ones who should get the sale. So we tried to be fair with each other. But one day, a customer came in wanting to exchange a dryer they had recently purchased. And I saw on their receipt that a fellow salesperson named Ray had rung them up originally. So typically, I would put the new dryer in Ray’s numbers. But as I learned more about what this customer was really looking for, it became apparent to me that Ray didn’t do a very good job helping them out. He didn’t sell them something that fit their needs. So I spent some time learning about the customer’s needs and ended up selling them a dryer that was a little bit nicer than the one Ray sold them. And then, even though I knew it would be frowned upon, I rang up the new dryer in my own numbers. Now the way I justified it was that Ray did a poor job of serving the customer, which resulted in me using more than a few minutes of my own time fixing his mistake. And I knew at the time that would be seen as a somewhat shaky line of reasoning, but I wanted the sale and I didn’t think Ray would find out anyway, so I rang it up in my numbers. But as you might expect, Ray ended up figuring out what I did. And let’s just say he wasn’t very happy, and he made sure to tell the other salespeople how unhappy he was. Now officially, I didn’t break any company rules and there were even a number of other salespeople who didn’t see anything unethical with me taking that sale. But looking back on the incident, I know that I acted in selfishness and greed. And because of my selfishness and greed, I did virtually irreparable damage to my Christian testimony toward Ray and probably toward some other salespeople as well. I messed up pretty bad. And there are many other moments when I’ve messed up that I could share with you. 

So just know that if you’re a Christian and you mess up sometimes, you’re not alone. All of us have moments we’re not proud of. Just look at Peter here in our main text. We all are at least sometimes inconsistent in our spiritual walk. And whenever we’re faced with our inconsistency and dealing with the guilt and frustration that come from that, I believe there are three things we should remember. And all three of these come from Peter’s life after this incident here in John 18. We need to keep in mind first that God offers us restoration, second that God offers us subsequent ministry, and third that God offers us the Holy Spirit. So let’s briefly look at those three items in that order. 

God Offers Us Restoration

First, God offers us restoration. And here’s where we see that in Peter’s life. After Jesus rose from the dead, he appears to Peter in John 20. And listen to their exchange in John 20:15-17: 15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” So do you see what’s happening there? Jesus is giving Peter a chance to reverse his three denials. Peter had denied Jesus three times, and so Jesus has Peter confess his love for him three times. So basically, Jesus is offering Peter forgiveness and restoration. 

And that’s really what Jesus came to offer everybody. That’s what makes the gospel such good news. The gospel teaches us that no matter how badly we’ve messed up—no matter what we’ve done or how many sins we’ve committed—all of those sins can washed away completely through Jesus. Isaiah 1:18 says that “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” And Romans 5:20 states, “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” In other words, the greater the sin, the greater the display of God’s grace as he forgives that sin. There’s no such thing as a sin that’s too big for God to forgive. Some of you are living right now under a cloud of guilt and shame. Maybe you feel guilty for what you’ve done or you feel guilty for what you haven’t done. Either way, Jesus is the answer. When Jesus died on the cross, he died as our sin-bearer. That means he took our sins on himself, along with all of our guilt and shame, so that we wouldn’t have to bear those things any longer. Jesus endured the judgment those sins deserved so that we could released from our guilt, freed from our shame, and forgiven for our sins. And then, he resurrected from the dead so that we also could have a kind of resurrection—so that even in our spiritual deadness, God could make us spiritually alive. 

And if you haven’t yet embraced that gospel message, that should be the very first thing you do even before you leave this morning. Renounce your sins and put your trust in Jesus to save you. And if you’ve already done that, don’t settle for a Christian life characterized by guilt or shame. Listen: when you mess up, Satan would love for you to walk around with an enormous weight of guilt and shame on your shoulders. But that’s not what God wants for you. As soon as you repent, you can be restored to fellowship with God. You’re not on some probationary period. And you certainly shouldn’t feel it necessary to endure some kind of punishment for your sin—and that includes self-inflicted punishment within your heart—because Jesus already endured 100% of the punishment your sins deserve. And interestingly, when we fail, my experience has been that it often makes the gospel shine all the brighter to us. The sins we commit from time to time as Christians remind us of what we’ve been saved out of, and as we repent and are restored to God, it’s almost like we experience the cleansing power of the gospel all over again. So whenever you’re like Peter and struggle with inconsistency and mess things up, remember that God offers us restoration. He restored Peter, and he restores us also.

God Offers Us Subsequent Ministry

Then, number two, remember that God offers us not only restoration but also subsequent ministry. A lot of times when we sin, we feel pretty useless. And we might ask ourselves, as we look toward the future, “Would God really use a screw up like me to do anything significant for his Kingdom?” I remember one time, when I was in middle school, I went with my friends to their church’s youth group. And some of the kids at this youth group were playing basketball. Now, I really wasn’t very good at basketball, but I felt awkward just standing around, so I decided to play. And I was kind of fast, so I was able to steal the ball a few times from the other team, and I guess because of that, my team thought I was a good player, so they started passing the ball to me. But as I started taking some shots and missed one after another after another, my team quickly figured out that I actually wasn’t any good at basketball, so they stopped passing me the ball. I had my chance, and I blew it, so nobody wanted to pass me the ball anymore. It was a sad day as a middle-schooler—so sad, apparently, that I remember it even today.

And it seems like a lot of people think God treats us that way also. They think that if we fail to measure up to what God wants us to be, we’ve lost any hope of being used by God in the future. And that’s simply not true. Just think about Peter. Yes, Peter had a pretty significant failure here in John 18. He denied Jesus three times. But did God decide that, because of Peter’s failure, he wasn’t going to use Peter anymore? Not at all. In Acts chapter 2, when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles in Jerusalem with unprecedented power and saved 3,000 people basically started the church, who was it that was preaching that first sermon—the sermon that started it all? It was none other than Peter. Peter had the central role in igniting a spiritual fire that would one day spread throughout the entire world. What a reminder that we can still be used by God even after we’ve fallen and failed! You know, if God only used people who had a spotless record, he wouldn’t use any of us. We’re all unworthy. But for some reason, God’s chosen to use screw ups like you and me to accomplish his mission of spreading the gospel. Praise God for his mercy!

God Offers Us the Holy Spirit

Then finally, when we’re faced with our inconsistency, we need to remember that God offers us not only restoration and subsequent ministry, but he also offers us the Holy Spirit. That’s point number three. God offers us the Holy Spirit. If you look at Peter in the book of Acts, he seems like a different person than who he was before. During the three years of Jesus’ earthly ministry, Peter was constantly getting himself into trouble. One moment, he’d be okay, but then the next moment, he’d say something or do something pretty foolish. In the words of our main idea, he was consistently inconsistent. But that’s not at all the picture we see of Peter in the book of Acts, after Jesus ascends into heaven and leaves his followers here on earth to spread the gospel. So why the difference? Why is Peter so different in the book of Acts than he was in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? Three words: the Holy Spirit.

Listen to this speech Peter gives in Acts 4, and tell me if this is the same guy who acted like a coward and denied Jesus in our main text. In the context of Acts 4, Peter and John have just healed a paralyzed man and used that healing as an opportunity to preach the gospel. But the Jewish religious leaders didn’t like that, so they arrested Peter and John. Then after that, listen to what happens in Acts 4:5-12: 5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Now, tell me: is that the same Peter we see denying Jesus back in John 18? Not even close. So what changed? Like I said, three words: the Holy Spirit. Notice in verse 8 how it describes Peter as being “filled with the Holy Spirit.” That’s the key. Peter was only inconsistent when he didn’t have the Holy Spirit. But once he had the Spirit and was filled with the Spirit and was walking in the Spirit’s power on a regular basis, his inconsistency vanished and he was a different person.

And the good news is that you and I have the Holy Spirit—the same Spirit who empowered Peter throughout the book of Acts. But it’s up to us to walk in the Spirit’s power. And usually, one of the things that leads to failures in our Christian life is that we’re not walking in the Spirit’s power. You may be aware that, whenever an airplane crashes, rescuers make every effort to retrieve something commonly known as a “black box.” This is a box on the airplane that records everything that happens with the airplane prior to a crash. It records dozens of statistics about the plane as well as the conversation in the cockpit. This helps airlines figure out exactly what went wrong and how they can keep that same thing from going wrong in the future. And whenever you and I fail spiritually, it’s not a bad idea to do something similar to what airlines do and think back to what actually happened that may have led to our failure. And if you’re anything like me, you’ll discover that you weren’t walking in step with the Holy Spirit and you weren’t being filled with the Spirit as a pattern of life. So whenever you blow it in your Christian life, let that be a reminder to you to walk in the Spirit’s power rather than your own—leaning on his strength instead of leaning on your own strength. Because in order to obey the commands of God, you need the power of God. That’s why the early church father Augustine prayed, “Lord command what you will and grant what you command!” “Command what you will and grant what you command.” We need God to grant us the grace to obey, and he does that through the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion

So those are the three things that are good for us to remember whenever we’re feeling discouraged because of our inconsistency. Remember that God offers us restoration so that we don’t have to walk around in a continual state of guilt and shame. Also, remember that God offers us subsequent ministry and is very willing to use us even after we’ve failed him time after time. And then, remember that God offers us the Holy Spirit so that we can live in spiritual victory moving forward rather than spiritual defeat.